Chest Day is the Best Day! A Killer Chest Workout From TheFitExpo

Whether it be Monday (a.k.a. #InternationalChestDay) or any other day of the week, everyone loves a good chest day. Get ready for the best chest day of your life! We’ll be mixing in some low rep sets with some high rep killers in order to destroy your chest. Not only will this workout get you stronger, it will also give you an absolutely insane chest pump! Let’s jump into the workout below.

Make sure you get in your warm-ups before starting as a heavy bench press can lead to a lot of injuries if you don’t warm-up properly first. A few sets of pass-throughs with a band or a PVC pipe are a great way to warm up your entire shoulder joint. Some rotator cuff work with a light dumbbell or light cables may also help if your rotator cuffs cause you issues. Next, do 2 sets of 20-30 band pull-aparts or cable face pulls to help set your shoulders before benching. Before you jump on the flat bench, go ahead and warm up your triceps with 2 sets of 20-30 light tricep pushdowns using a band or a cable machine. Now you’re ready to bench! I know this seems like a lot of warming up, but the protection that it will provide your shoulders and elbows is more than worth it.

Bench Press:

Start by doing 50 reps with the bar just to get your pecs firing and your movement pattern feeling good. This should be an easy warm-up. If it’s tough, do fewer reps! Now begin your working sets with a heavy pyramid with the rep scheme 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12. As you work up in weight the sets should be difficult, but are they strength-focused so give yourself time to rest between sets! Begin lowering the weight after your set of 2, taking less time to rest and focusing on pushing yourself near failure. NOTE: Always stop 1-2 reps shy of failure if you do not have a spotter! It’s not worth the injury risk.

SUPERSET:

“Guillotine” Incline Bench Press

The Guillotine press is very similar to a normal bench press, only the touch point is different. Rather than hitting your mid-lower pec, lower the bar to your collarbone each rep. This will make you use less weight to be sure, however, it will also help you to build that upper-chest “shelf.” Plus,  the pump is downright crazy. 5 sets of 15 will have your chest BURNING.

DEEP Incline DB Flyes

I know, I know. Given how hard the guillotine press was, the next exercise in the superset must be an easy one right? Wrong. Going deep on these incline flyes will give you a huge stretch at the bottom, and a great squeeze at the top. We’ll keep it at 5 sets of 15 which is tough enough on its own, but as a part of this superset, it will leave your upper chest torched.

Cable Crossover (Lower Chest Focused)

I’m sure your upper test is done, so we’ll give it a break. Your lower chest on the other hand… We’re going to punish that. The “lower chest” focused cable flye is the version that most people are familiar with, and we’ll stick with that here. Just do a quick 4 sets of 20 reps! There is a slight twist of course. Pause for 1 second at the end of each rep, with a 3-second eccentric phase. This is not technically the finisher, but it should feel like one.

Push-Up Ladder Finisher

Here’s the finisher. You might be thinking that regardless of how wrecked your chest is, a bodyweight push-up will never be a challenge for you. Think again. The “ladder” portion of the name refers to the 3 different heights that you will be performing this movement at. Begin in the hardest position with your feet up on a bench, and rep out to failure. Then move to a normal push-up position on the ground and go to failure again. Finally, make the movement easier by placing your hands up on the bench, and rep out to failure again. Run through this circuit 2-3 times and you’ll see why this movement is a finisher. It’s okay if you’re only doing a few push-ups on the last set. No shame, I’ve been there too. That being said, this is no reason to take it easy. Push yourself to the limit and the results will follow!

WARM-UP
EXERCISE	SETS	REPS	NOTES
Band/PVC Pipe Passthroughs	2-3	10-20	Optional: Cable/Band Rotator Cuff Warm-ups (2-3 sets of 10-20)
Band Pull-Aparts or Face Pulls	2	20-30	Light and Easy
Band/Cable Tricep Pressdowns	2	20-30	Light and Easy

EXERCISE	SETS	REPS	NOTES
Bench Press	Pyramid	50, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12	Warm-up with just the bar for 50 reps. Increase weight as reps drop, decrease weight as reps go up again.
SUPERSET: Incline Guillotine Bench Press Incline Dumbbell Flyes	5 5	15 15	See exercise descriptions listed above. Do not rest between exercises, only rest once a set of each exercise has been completed.
Cable Crossover	4	20	1 second squeeze, 3 second negative/eccentric
Push-Up Ladder	2-3	Rep to Failure	See description above